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Description
In June of 1970, a commercial promoting a "Special Barbie Month" giveaway aired. Fifty-three years later, it's gained renewed popularity thanks to social media. Isn't it amazing how the Internet can work sometimes?

So yeah, I caught wind of this Barbie ad, and while I'm not usually one to jump on a bandwagon, especially since I've heard mixed opinions on the Barbie movie that came out lately, I do love whenever something vintage or retro, especially something obscure, gets a new lease on life thanks to online exposure like this. Having seen the ad myself, I can say that not only are the designs cute, but it manages to cram so much charm and character into 30 seconds. The spokesgirl on the left promotes this giveaway of a $1 silver costume and free Barbie goods with all the cheerfulness and enthusiasm that you'd expect, and while it doesn't seem like her deadpan friend on the right cares about this at first, it does become clear that she is interested when she asks about the free stuff and then runs off to take part in the offer. You can see it here: 1970 Special Barbie Month Commercial

I was inspired to draw these two girls after seeing the ad, and I tried to replicate the style with the rough, scratchy, unpolished linework and coloring that feels very much like a product of the era it was made, the late 60s and early 70s. Thankfully, I was able to find pencil and watercolor brushes in Photoshop that could replicate those effects. Maybe I can come up with a version that replicates the aged recording effects at some point as well, but I think this could work for now.

I'm genuinely curious as to who worked on this commercial, who designed and animated it, who did the voices, if there's any info surrounding the making of it, if the characters have names, (someone said they were named Pamela and Priscilla, but I have no idea if that's really true or not since I can't find any evidence that supports this claim,) or anything else like that. If anyone knows of any interesting info related to this commercial, feel free to let me know. In the meantime, enjoy this "groovy" little piece of retro cuteness.

Barbie (c) Mattel
The Commercial (c) Whoever made it, I guess

Description
In June of 1970, a commercial promoting a "Special Barbie Month" giveaway aired. Fifty-three years later, it's gained renewed popularity thanks to social media. Isn't it amazing how the Internet can work sometimes?

So yeah, I caught wind of this Barbie ad, and while I'm not usually one to jump on a bandwagon, especially since I've heard mixed opinions on the Barbie movie that came out lately, I do love whenever something vintage or retro, especially something obscure, gets a new lease on life thanks to online exposure like this. Having seen the ad myself, I can say that not only are the designs cute, but it manages to cram so much charm and character into 30 seconds. The spokesgirl on the left promotes this giveaway of a $1 silver costume and free Barbie goods with all the cheerfulness and enthusiasm that you'd expect, and while it doesn't seem like her deadpan friend on the right cares about this at first, it does become clear that she is interested when she asks about the free stuff and then runs off to take part in the offer. You can see it here: 1970 Special Barbie Month Commercial

I was inspired to draw these two girls after seeing the ad, and I tried to replicate the style with the rough, scratchy, unpolished linework and coloring that feels very much like a product of the era it was made, the late 60s and early 70s. Thankfully, I was able to find pencil and watercolor brushes in Photoshop that could replicate those effects. Maybe I can come up with a version that replicates the aged recording effects at some point as well, but I think this could work for now.

I'm genuinely curious as to who worked on this commercial, who designed and animated it, who did the voices, if there's any info surrounding the making of it, if the characters have names, (someone said they were named Pamela and Priscilla, but I have no idea if that's really true or not since I can't find any evidence that supports this claim,) or anything else like that. If anyone knows of any interesting info related to this commercial, feel free to let me know. In the meantime, enjoy this "groovy" little piece of retro cuteness.

Barbie (c) Mattel
The Commercial (c) Whoever made it, I guess